Snow flames
by Akino Matoumiken
Summary: It began with a strange day, then a strange mission, and then with strange behaviours from someone. How do you get out of it? You don't, you face it. Follow this oneshot mission and see the chain of strange events. Neji X Tenten


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, many things would have been altered, well not really, just the length. Anyhow, here comes another one-shot from me. I really do love one-shots. They're much more fun.

"Both of you will leave for the hidden village of haruhana tomorrow. Is that clear?" asked Tsunade to the pair standing at her desk.

"Is there a time we must depart?" asked the taller one.

"You leave at dawn. That is all, now go home and get some rest for your long mission." the Godaime replied.

"Hai" and both left swiftly.

"Shizune, bring me some sake!"

"So do you want me to meet you at your place?"

"No, it's closer from your apartment and if you're late I'll make sure you wake up."

"I'm not always late… I do wake up, sure I may be a little slower in the morning, but I do come on time for the most parts."

"I'll be at your door at 6" with that, they parted in different directions.

At 18, Tenten and Neji had their own apartments in different areas and still trained together when they could. They did missions together if they were around. They were sure Lee was going to join them, but Lee and Gai went off to another mission a few days before. This mission was a stranger one than the usual missions they were assigned most times.

Neji had finished showering and was going to sleep soon as he laid on his bed with the towel on his face. He had not changed much. He was still the same stoic, arrogant person he was much like his younger counterpart. One enormous difference is now his faith in fate has dissipated but there was one part he believed fate to be the answer. Much to his dismay, even though he has achieved many things over the past years, including becoming a jounin, he felt something was missing. Strangely enough, when he thought of the missing part of his life, a familiar face materialized in his mind. As soon as the face materialized enough, he would push the thought away and became flustered in the process. This has been occurring for the past 3-4 years but all this time, he chose to ignore it. For some odd reason, it seems like this reoccurs more often than it used to. A thought that could ruin your concentration, this was making a fool of this prodigy.

The prodigy was not alone in reaching to great achievements; his other teammates have done so as well. Lee has also become a jounin and despite still being a huge fan, if not worshipper of his sensei, he has at last changed his hairdo that resembled quite like what he looked like when he was younger. However, he still had a green spandex suit and if it wasn't for the hair, he really would have been a younger version of his "god". Driven to be the best taijutsu ninja, he has at last realized that his relationship with a certain pink haired medic nin would never go beyond friendship. Yes he was saddened at first, but he was grateful to at least have that type of relationship with her.

Meanwhile Tenten had grown taller over the years and would be considered tall for a kunoichi. She has developed in wonderful curves and earned many looks of whoever passed her that happened to be a man. Her hair was still always up, but instead of two buns, she has at last found that tying one could be actually a faster process than trying to even her hair out to not make one bigger than the other. She still wore similar attires of her younger self, but she stuck with a black top and dark coloured pants, which weren't quite black to make it appear like a one piece. Tenten was still pondering at the odd mission she was assigned by her idol. There was something about the village that was familiar and yet she couldn't pin point what made it so. Instead, she decided to sleep it off, thinking perhaps that it would come back to her later on.

The following morning, Tenten did wake up indeed, but still a little later than she should have. By the time Neji appeared at her door, she was dressed, but her hair was still down, earning a stare from him. He had never seen all of her hair down and had the urge of stroking it out of the blue. As he opened his eyes again after shaking his head to rid himself of the thought, all he could see after was her strands flying around as she entered the bathroom. Moments later, they headed towards the village for their mission.

Hours have passed and it was yet another beautiful day in Konoha. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and Tsunade was groaning. Shizune brought Tsunade some sake alright, little did she know that the Godaime had a few bottles in her desk as well. So Tsunade kind of overdosed herself yet again and fell asleep on her desk. Sleeping under a hard table and large amount of books and paper was not an ideal place to sleep. This left her neck and back pretty sore that morning. She noticed a few of her papers fell from her table which she figured was from last night and bent down to pick it up. Ironically, the one that laid on top was a file on the Hyuuga prodigy's last mission. Seeing the name, a thought in particular rushed through her head. "Did I ever tell those two that they had to do that? Oh well, I'm sure they'll find out on their own." She thought out loud. With that, she continued on with her day.

While in some forest of some country, Both Neji and Tenten sneezed at the same time. "Are you sick Neji?" Tenten asked. "No, are you?" Neji replied. "Then someone must be talking about us." Tenten said as they were still leaping away. The words "about us" echoed in Neji's mind and it seems he may have taken those words in another context. Many things would have rushed through his mind if not for a loud noise coming from his teammate. It had already been about 2 or 3 hours since they've departed and they hadn't taken account to actually eat or at least Tenten didn't. Tenten looked at Neji sheepishly and slowed down as he was behind her on the lookout of the surroundings. She slowed down and turned around, but seems to have miscalculated by a bit as she was a few inches away from his face. Realizing that, she immediately blushed a little and she could have sworn he had too. "I need to eat. I'm sure you noticed I wasn't completely ready in the morning." With Neji's infamous grunt "Hn", she happily set herself near a branch and unbuckled her backpack to find that she had forgotten to bring something to eat apart from water. As he came down, he saw the look on her face and came to the conclusion something must have happened. She closed the distance between the two and with possibly the googliest, biggest eyes she could muster; she lamented "I have nothing to eat… I don't have the energy to go on, do have something you could share, Neji-----kun?" and finishing her act with a sad puppy lip forming at her mouth. Many things could have been said about Neji's face at that very moment, but sometimes, things are meant to stay unsaid as it is unnecessary. "You must be awfully desperate to pull something like this. Here." He said as he threw a bun at her. 'Why the heck did she have to do that and what's with this feeling I'm getting from this?' he pondered as Tenten happily caught the incoming edible substance. Lost in his thoughts, Neji failed to take note of Tenten who lept and caressed him from behind. "Thank you so much. I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon." "Will you please get yourself off of me? We don't have time for this." He said more irritably than he felt. "Aw, I'm hurt. You know it's not everyday that you're thanked by a beautiful and powerful kunoichi like myself." she said teasingly and laughed as she began dashing towards their path to the village again. Before he could rebuke, he had to hurry himself up to catch up to the sudden burst of energy named Tenten.

It took a good part of the day to actually get there. It wasn't until nearly evening that they have at last arrived. As if the weird wasn't strange enough for Neji, it just did as he entered the village and was greeted in possibly the strangest manner he has ever seen. Many people were at the gates of the village and he could hear one man shouting especially loud "Everybody, look! They have returned! Kimiko-chan has at last returned with her beloved. This village isn't completely doomed afterall!" With that, what looked like about a dozen people, now looked like a good 30 or maybe even 50 people. The name finally registered in Tenten and she has at last recalled why this place was so familiar.

"So what story are you going to tell me today?"

"Well, I don't really have any story in mind. Since today is the first day of spring, I'll tell you of this secret place I once knew and one special thing about it. There once was a beautiful place called the village of haruhana. It had many luscious forests like here in Konoha, but it would be like this all year."

"Everyday? So there was no snow?

"Nope, there never was. Flowers were around all year and the people were really nice and here as well. No one in that village wanted to leave here as everything seemed just about perfect there. In this village, there was something really special to people who really liked each other, like me and your otou-san. There would be a really big fire and everyone who was with someone they really liked would go around it and celebrate."

"Celebrate what? Like a birthday?"

"Sort of, but this was like a birthday of the day they found out they really loved each other. Half way through the night, they would have a beautiful piece of paper with space for 2 lines. Each line was for a name of both a boy and a girl. Then they threw it in the fire and would hope that they remember once they have their first child, they would be called that and be blessed by it. They would do this every year."

"Is that the special thing about this place?"

"No, here's what made it really special. Remember when I said it never snowed? Well that isn't completely true. When your ka-chan told your otou-san she loved him, we were going to head to the place where we could go to the fire. We celebrated and we wrote 2 names. Just as were going to toss it in the fire, snow started to fall. Legend in that village says that if it ever snows in this occasion, the names of the children will be even more blessed and would be more likely to find the one just for them faster, giving them all to him or her. This only happens every 10 years, but it skips generations sometimes, so it might come 20 years later or maybe not until another 100."

"So I'm a special person?"

"Yes you are. That night, I wrote for a girl's name, Tenten, which means to me, a girl that can dream and fulfill them and is as limitless as the sky. You are that special little girl in this house and in ka-chan and otou-san's world."

"Thank you ka-chan."

It was so very long ago for Tenten, but what made it even faster to recall was the name; Kimiko, which is the name of her mother. She already found the mission strange from the start as she thought back at when Tsunade first announced the mission.

"Your mission is to restore a certain custom in this village. Once you do that, peace will return to this small village. Take this with you; it's some sort of remedy the client gave. I'm sure it'll come in handy. At the client's request, they wanted you to do the mission with one partner or another pair. Also, you must go under an alias. You will know once you arrive to the village. This mission is to start tomorrow morning and end as soon as you can."

"Why me in particular though and the partner thing?"

"I was not informed of this, but we do what we can to fulfill their request. Since the other potential people are gone to other missions, only Neji is left. Is that fine?"

"Kimiko-chan! So is this the Kensuke you talked so much of?" asked an elder man.

Tenten wanted to retort at the name saying it was her mother and wanted to ask why they were calling her that, but before she could, Neji stepped in, snaked his strong arms around her waist and simply replied "Yes I am, it's a pleasure to be here with Kimiko-chan." with a Tenten that was equally shocked and a bit embarrassed with tinges of red flushing her cheeks.

"Isn't it wonderful everyone? We thought you wouldn't return here. It's been about 10 years now. What have the two of you been doing for that long?"

"Don't you remember? We've been searching for the remedy in different parts of the world and we have at last returned."

"Oh yes, you were only 16 at that time; so very determined to save the custom. I see that you still have no children. Are you planning on any of them soon?"

"Oh yes, it would be beautiful to have a family, but I had to get the remedy back here first."

"Such a strong mind… Well, all you need to do is spray it on the fire and all shall be alright."

With that, they headed towards where the fire was a mere flame on a candlestick, or so it looked. Once she sprayed the "remedy" the fire grew at a staggering rate and burned a brilliant shade of oranges, reds and yellows.

"Thank you Kimiko-chan for bringing the flame back. We've tried everything, but nothing worked until you've done this. And for this, you shall be the first one to celebrate with Kensuke-san."

"Wait, since you're the first, Kimiko-chan, you must be dressed for it! You too Kensuke-san"

"Dressed? We do?"

"Have you forgotten it already? Oh dear, it has been awhile. Allow me to show you to it."

"O-ok"

The pair was pulled by another pair, who believed to be their mission to fulfill the official requirements to this ceremony. Moments later, the crowd was in awe as Tenten emerged in a beautiful red dress embroided with gold sequins shaped in flowers with a head dress on her head and her hair was down while we were at it. It flowed well below her shoulders just about midway of her waist. Neji was also in red, but his sequins were shaped in a phoenix. His hair was tied by a red ribbon on the bottom, which resembled much like what he did when he was younger. Once Neji saw his partner, his jaw would have dropped, nose would have shed some blood, ears and face would have been red as his attire, but he somehow managed to control all those feelings, well maybe not all. His mouth was the slightest bit open in awe and his face was flushed all around. Tenten sensed this and immediately faced him to only be doing almost the same thing with her flushing more concentrated at the cheeks.

"You look absolutely exquisite" was all he said softly to her ear as he walked up to her. She quickly turned around and did the same but said "And you look absolutely handsome" and not fully understanding why she felt an absolute need to at that moment, actually dare to kiss him on the cheek. Before he could do anymore, the pair that had dressed them up loudly announced, "And now, Kimiko-chan and Kensuke-san shall begin this wonderous ceremony with the opening dance." Neji looked unsure for the first time is quite awhile, while Tenten seemed very calm, smiled at this and began walking towards him. She had been lucky in innumerable ways. That very night she learned of this place, she also saw this dance they spoke of." She closed the distance between her and Neji and told him, "All you have to do is extend your hand here and allow me to do the rest."

The music began lightly and she began the steps that she remembers so well. She turned, spun, and bit by bit came closer to Neji, who was enjoying every little moment of this even though he didn't know what was to come. 'She was certainly the one to do this right. I just never knew she was capable of this.' She has at last reached him and touched his arm and led him around the fire. He somehow managed to keep up and look like what he was doing. When he thought it was over, he was once again surprised when Tenten inched closer and closer until she embraced him, arms around his neck making any relative distance between the 2 disappear by laying her red lips on his. The crowd went while, and the ceremony began at full throttle. They stayed like this for quite a bit, until they finally had to breathe. It was indeed breathtaking.

They walked around and found a nice spot, where they sat down and tried to register all that's happened this day. Silence was prominent, but rather unwanted, and yet either of them wouldn't try to break it knowing it would make it even more awkward. After what seemed like forever, Tenten spoke. "This was an interesting day ne?" He said nothing and only starred at her. Uncomfortable with his eyes doing that, she approached him and knelt in front of him, which broke him out of the trance. "What are you doing?"

"I just realized something."

"And that is?"

Neji rose from where he sat and went up to Tenten and bent down, removed the large headdress and snuggled his head to the crook of her neck "The missing piece of my life."

Bewildered by his sudden actions, Tenten struggled to maintain her voice strongly but was able to peep, "There was something missing?"

"Yes, you."

"Me?"

"I can't deny this anymore, I've tried for the past 4 years, there's no escaping this. It took today to make me realize this. I'm madly in love, no I simply love you."

Love you… love you… the words she wanted to hear the most from that very someone. She never could find it in her to tell him that out of nowhere and decided this was the time to do so. While this was running through her, Neji waited for that answer. Every passing second seemed like hours and he buried his head on her neck until he felt her hands embrace him, lifting his head to her own where they could stare into each other's eyes, where they could hide nothing. She wanted to parrot his words, but her voice would project no sound. Instead, she chose the next best way of doing so, by kissing him until she knew for sure he could understand. As the now official pair were returning to the fire grounds, white flakes lightly started falling from the sky as if showing Tenten she has truly found the one just for her.

In the meantime, in a house not too far from the ceremony, what looked like a middle aged man looked out his window, sighed happily and thought happily "So Tsunade, you were able to actually pull this off without messing up. Kimiko-san, if only you could see this. She has indeed found him. I'm sure you'll approve of him. I'm glad no one found out about him being a Hyuuga or the fact that she isn't you. However, she really is like you in so many more ways than almost being your reflection. Even the heavens seem to be on her side, which I'm sure you have something to do with it. Thank you Kimiko-san."

As Neji and Tenten were walking beneath the flakes that were lightly falling hand-in-hand, Tenten has finally found back her voice. She stopped, which in turn made Neji stopped abruptly as if his thoughts were interrupted. "I hope you already know what that kiss meant."

"Should I?" he asked in a teasing tone with a small smile dancing on his face.

"Yes. The snow is a definite sign. I know I've done the right thing. I love you too. You'll always know that this is all for you."

"I'm glad, because this is all for you as well."

-----

Fin

Another strange ending… Closing this fic was another odd thing I did, like the way I did so. Another batch of Neji X Tenten fluff; at least you know it's done and there's no worry about waiting for more chapters from me about this. So, your thoughts? R&R? As for the title, I'd like to thank Eternal Shadow for the great idea of it after being the first one to review this fic.


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